Town Centres Strategic Partnership Programme

The council has endorsed a new partnership programme for town centres in Waitakere.

About the Town Centre Strategic Partnership Programme

History of revitalisation processes in town centres

Recognised Approach - The Four Point Plan

Philosophy

Implementation

Policy

Constitution Template

What is the Town Centre Strategic Partnership Programme?

The programme is a public private partnership between local government, the business community and the community at large.

The programme is intended to identify and reinforce the unique identity of a town centre and to promote that identity as part of its ongoing development.

Business owners and tenants elect to make a collective contribution to the enhancement and promotion of their town centre. The concept is modelled on the way many suburban shopping centres and malls are managed. The end result is that stakeholders in a town centre can align themselves in much the same way as those in shopping centres and malls.

Basic objectives of the programme are:

• an enhanced physical environment;
• heritage conservation;
• business creation and development; and
• increased employment and local business investment.

History of revitalisation processes in town centres

Mainstreet had its beginnings in the changing social and economic environment in small town America in the 50s and 60s. More families had cars, and so mobility increased. To service these more mobile shoppers, large format retail such as supermarkets, cinemas and hardware stores were built out of town on highways. These structures were serviced by large car parks, which had a negative impact on the traditional strip shopping streets in the town centre. And then of course, shopping malls were born. Internal-looking shopping malls have a negative impact on the street environment.

As a result, traditional town centre businesses lost their customers to these new-format shopping magnets. They lost vitality, business activity, and became unsafe. Enter onto the world stage the first Mainstreet Programmes!

The Business Improvement District programme originated later as an expansion of the Mainstreet programme to allow large urban districts in large cities to access the same results: increased social capital, rekindled entrepreneurship, downtown co-operation, and civic involvement.

Place Management is a new process that utilises similar concepts and expands the focus to creating physical spaces that meet the emotional and spiritual (as well as the physical) needs of the specific community.

New Zealand picked up these processes in the early 90s, and variations on these programmes have been established in New Zealand through a direct funding injection by the local authority, and are then maintained through targeted rating.

From simple beginnings in small towns across the country, large cities such as North Shore, Manukau and Auckland now run comprehensive council-supported programmes for their urban and suburban town centres. 

Recognised Approach - The Four Point Plan

Waitakere Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) focus on four main areas of activity:
 

Organisation	Getting started, bringing business and community representatives together to make things happen;
Design	Co-ordinating physical improvements to enhance the image of the town centre and promote what it has to offer; capitalising on the historical and cultural significance of the town centre and using it as a means of establishing an identity;
Business development	Strengthening existing business and creating new opportunities for growth; and
Promotion	Marketing the town centre through special events and retail promotions.

Philosophy

The four point approach succeeds best when combined with the following eight principles:

Implementation

BIDs have been established in Te Atatu Peninsula and Glen Eden. New Lynn has undertaken an Establishment Poll and is working towards establishing a BID on 1 July 2010.

The BID boundary maps can be viewed on the above town centre links.

Each town centre partnership will comprise:

1. The Waitakere City Council, which provides resources, and facilitates the process through community networking and public meetings to empower town centre stakeholders to enter the partnership; and
2. An incorporated society in each town centre made up of business and community representatives. This kind of legal entity demonstrates a level of commitment from the stakeholders that makes the implementation of the programme viable.

1. Town centre business and property owners (stakeholders) are introduced the concept.
2. The town centre stakeholders:
   1. form a working/steering group;
   2. establish an incorporated society with a model constitution supplied by the Council, supported by the majority of stakeholders in their town centre;
   3. make a formal request to the council to participate in the programme.
3. Once these organisational requirements are met, the Council provides funding for the incorporated stakeholder group to write and adopt a strategic and a business plan.
4. Work commences on striking a targeted rate that would fund the ongoing tasks identified in the business plan by the incorporated stakeholder group.
5. Once agreement is reached about the targeted rate (according the processes set out under the Local Government Act 2002), the Council strikes the rate for that town centre.
6. The town centre is then eligible to utilise and account for the proceeds of the separate rate according to their business plan.
   1. The council retains a financial management role over the funds and;
   2. Monitors, reviews and evaluates the programme to ensure that each Town Centre achieves its goals on an ongoing basis.

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Steps to becoming a Waitakere BID flow chart (Size 182K)

Two staff members have responsibility for liaison with Waitakere town centres. For further information please contact us.

Policy

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Business Improvement Districts Policy (Size 23K)

Constitution

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Model Constitution for Town Centre Strategic Partnership Programmes in Waitakere.  (Size 288K)

The Model Constitution is also available in Microsoft Word format - Click here  (Size 173K)